Fast Facts: Crowdsourcing and Social Media in CSR

FAST FACTS:

Crowdsourcing and Social Media in CSR

What is the value and impact of crowdsourcing in corporate social responsibility (CSR)? How are social media tools shaping how companies engage consumers to provide ideas and help in decision-making on how to tackle issues and achieve goals? These questions are at the center of research the Weber Shandwick Social Impact team conducted with KRC Research in October 2010 to gain new insights into the challenges and opportunities facing companies in a changing CSR and communications landscape.

This fact sheet summarizes the key findings of our survey of more than 200 senior executives in large-sized companies with responsibility for philanthropy, social responsibility and community relations. It complements the findings our team issued in December 2010, which explored why corporations invest in CSR today, the role of nonprofit partners in CSR, and key success factors and lessons learned from recent efforts.

What we found is that a sizable percentage of companies we interviewed have used crowdsourcing and are actively using social media to communicate about CSR programs. Results revealed that social media has proven to be an effective means to engage diverse audiences and identify new perspectives, and has had a positive impact on reaching key stakeholders. Interestingly, we also saw strong support for the idea that integrated communications programs combining social media, community events, executive visibility and earned media continue to be critical to building awareness and engagement for CSR efforts.

To learn more, visit our Social Impact blog at: impact.webershandwick.com

1 Corporate executives see the value of crowdsourcing in CSR efforts.A sizable 44% of executives say their companies have used crowdsourcing to engage stakeholders around CSR programs.

• Anoverwhelmingmajority(95%)ofexecutiveswhohaveusedcrowdsourcingfounditvaluable.

• Thetopreasonsexecutivesfindcrowdsourcingvaluablearethatitsurfacesnewperspectivesanddiverseopinions(36%),andbuildsengagementsandrelationshipswithkeyaudiences(25%).

• Interestingly,amongthosewhohavenotyetusedcrowdsourcing,43percentanticipatethatcrowdsourcingcouldbevaluabletotheirfutureCSRefforts.

IMPLICATION: Crowdsourcing is an effective means to identify new perspectives and build relationships with key audiences and should be explored as a means of engaging stakeholders around CSR efforts.

METHODOLOGYKRCResearchsurveyed216executivesinFortune2000companieswhohaveresponsibilityforphilanthropic,socialresponsibilityorcommunityoutreachwithintheirorganizations.ThesurveywasconductedviaphonebetweenOctober6andOctober22,2010.Themarginoferroris+/-6.8percentagepointsatthe95percentconfidencelevel.

ABOUT WEBER SHANDWICK SOCIAL IMPACTWeberShandwick’sSocialImpactpracticebuildsinsight-drivencommunicationsprogramstodriveengagementonpressingsocialissues.Wepartnerwithcorporations,nonprofitsandfoundationstodevelopstrategicplatformsandcampaignsthatreachkeyaudienceswithresonantandactionablemessagesoncorporatesocial responsibility(CSR)andissuesspanningglobaldevelopment,education,sustainability,humanrightsandmore.Wearestorytellers,contentcreatorsandadvocates.TheteamcombinesthestrengthofWeberShandwick’spublicaffairs,corporate,consumeranddigitalpractices.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

PAULMASSEY,202.585.2799pmassey@webershandwick.com

STEPHANIEBLUMA,202.585.2755sbluma@webershandwick.com

COLINMOFFETT,202.585.2045cmoffett@webershandwick.com

VICTORIASNEED,202.585.2814vsneed@webershandwick.com

JONATHANBENTLEY,202.585.2732jbentley@krcresearch.com

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Social media is widely used in driving CSR initiatives.

Social media tools engage stakeholders and expand the reach of CSR efforts.

Companies see greater value from integrated CSR communications programs.

Social media has become an important part of the mix when considering which channels to use to communicate CSR efforts.

• Most(72%)executivessaythatsocialmediahasbeenusedtocommunicateabouttheirorganization’sCSRefforts.

• Nearly60percentsaysocialmediahasapositiveimpactonthequalityoftheircommunicationswithconsumers.

IMPLICATION: Given the positive impact of social media, these channels should be strategic priorities for communicating CSR efforts to stakeholders.

Executives believe the primary value of using social media tools to communicate around CSR programs is that they create opportunities for companies to reach broad and diverse audiences (38%).

• Additionalbenefitscitedbyexecutivesincludeallowingcompaniestoconnectdirectlywithconsumersinlow-cost,efficientways(29%)andenablingcompaniestoengagespecificconstituencieswithgreaterease(11%).

• Ofthosewhousesocialmediatools,Facebook(67%)wasnamedasthemostvaluabletoolinengagingconsumersaroundacompany’sCSRfollowedbyblogs(60%),LinkedIn(58%),Twitter(46%)andFourSquare(44%).

IMPLICATION: CSR programs are likely to be increasingly characterized by creative efforts to engage consumers across social channels, given their demonstrated value.

Although 71% of executives say social media is an important communication channel to raise awareness of CSR programs, they continue to see the value of other communications priorities as well.

I M PA C T. W E B E R S H A N D W I C K . C O M facebook.com/WSSocialImpact @wssocialimpact

• Executivescitecommunityevents(85%),executiveoutreach(75%),andearnedmedia(70%)asprioritiesforraisingawarenessofCSR.

• WhenitcomestodrivingengagementwithCSR,83percentofexecutivescitecommunityevents,74percentexecutiveoutreachand69percentearnedmedia.

IMPLICATION: Integrated communications matter – and those companies that develop strategic programs featuring social media, earned media, events and executive visibility stand a better chance of getting their messages heard. strategy.